Its official: Schumacher joins Mercedes

Press releases from Michael Schumacher and Mercedes have confirmed what we all said last night: Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to race for Mercedes next year.

Schumacher, who retired in 2006, will return aged 41, and will be seeking to improve upon his record of 91 wins, 68 pole positions, 76 fastest laps and 7 world championships.

Already, he has set his sights to winning the 2010 championship. “It [Mercedes GP] is a team that has won both championships this year,” he said. “With Mercedes Benz as a strong partner, our aim can only be to fight for the championship.”

Ross Brawn said: “I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our Mercedes GP Petronas team. As seven-time world champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again.”

This means that Mercedes will race with an all-German line up, having confirmed Nico Rosberg a few weeks ago.